Champions Cork to begin title defence against Galway
June 16, 2015
Our Game Your Game campaign returns for championship season
All Ireland champions Cork will begin the defence of their title against Galway, in the opening round of the Liberty Insurance Camogie Championship this coming Saturday (June 20th) at 3.00pm in O'Connor Park, Tullamore announced this afternoon (Tuesday, June 16th) at the official launch of the 2015 Liberty Insurance Camogie Championship in Croke Park.
The game is part of a double-header tie with the Leinster GAA Senior Championship hurling semi-final meeting between Galway and Laois at 5.00pm.
Players from this year's Liberty Insurance Camogie Championship, including Cork captain Ashling Thompson joined with the President of the Camogie Association Catherine Neary and Annette Ní Dhathlaoí, Head of Marketing, Liberty Insurance to officially launch the championship series.
Following on from the success of last year's campaign, Our Game Your Game 2015 was also unveiled with a new video featuring Thompson and Kilkenny's Katie Power. Unique content and imagery, featuring the power, skill and athleticism of the game of Camogie and those who play it will be unveiled throughout the season. People can follow the series and tweet on #ourgameyourgame
This year, the campaign features the stories of inter-county players; Niamh McGrath, Sarah Dervan, (Galway), Ashling Thompson, Briege Corkery (Cork), Katie Power, Edwina Keane, (Kilkenny), Caoimhe Costello, (Limerick) and Mary Leacy, (Wexford).
The Association also announced plans for the selection of a Players' Player of the Year, across three grades; Senior, Intermediate and Junior. The recipients will be announced at the Camogie All Star awards in Citywest on November 7th.
The Camogie Association also urged all Gaelic games and Camogie fans to support the pledging campaign, unveiled by Liberty Insurance on Thursday, June 11th at the launch of their research into female participation in sport called "Wise Up" compiled by Millward Brown and Onside Marketing.
As part of this event, Liberty Insurance called on all parents and families to pledge to bring daughters, nieces and grand-daughters to sporting fixtures. People can tweet their pledge on #SupportHerSport.
Speaking at the launch Camogie Association President Catherine Neary said:
"We are looking forward immensely to championship 2015 and the meeting of Cork and Galway in the opening round, as part of a GAA double-header should prove to be a major draw for Camogie and GAA fans.
Strategic fixture planning and key marketing initiatives which serve to bring our game to a wider audience, afford us a greater platform and present our players as the committed, talented and ambitious athletes that they are, are all key points for Championship 2015.
We are also proud to support the pledging campaign of our partners Liberty Insurance and encourage sports fans to avail of the opportunities to see the game of Camogie and the players in action throughout the course of the season."
Also speaking in Croke Park, Annette Ní Dhathlaoí Head of Marketing for Liberty Insurance said:
"By virtue of our decision to partner with both the GAA Hurling & Camogie Championships in 2013, we in Liberty Insurance assumed a responsibility to drive the profile of women sports in Ireland. By showcasing the power, skill and commitment of its women athletes on an equal platform with Hurling players, we assertively obliged people to reappraise their view of Camogie.
She continued, "Our research has confirmed that female participation in sport is strongly influenced by attending sporting events at a young age and therefore we are launching a pledging campaign to encourage parents to bring their children to sporting events. So the challenge to us all is to pledge to bring our daughters, younger sisters, or nieces to a women's sporting fixture this year".
This season also sees the introduction of the advantage rule following approval at annual Congress in March. The rule comes into effect, when play is waved on for five seconds and if no advantage occurs in that time, a free is then awarded.
It was also confirmed that the Liberty Insurance All Ireland Camogie finals (taking place September 13th) have been designated as a flagship event during the first European Week of Sport which is running from the 7th to the 13th of September. The European Week of Sport is a new initiative from the European Commission and supported by the Irish Sports Council, aimed at promoting sport and physical activity across Europe.
To follow all the action on the 2015 Liberty Insurance Camogie Championship check out facebook.com/officialcamogie, follow @officialcamogie or hashtag #ourgameyourgame and via YouTube.com/officialcamogie
ENDS
For further information contact Claire Egan, Communications & Marketing Director, 01 865 8618, 087 9030 755 Email: [email protected]
Notes to the Editor:
Photography available FOC from Inpho Email: [email protected] Ph: 01 676 4604
Video available FOC from Ballywire Media Email: [email protected]
Ph: 01 453 7445
Ashling Thompson, Cork, Kate McDonald, Kilkenny, Cáit Devane, Tipperary, Shelley Kehoe, Wexford, Sarah Dervan, Galway, Sara Carey, Limerick, Sheila Sullivan, Offaly, Elaine O'Meara, Dublin, Grainne O'Kane, Derry, Carol O'Leary, Clare, Caithríona McGlone, Waterford, Niamh Mallon, Down, Niamh Dollard, Laois and Marion Doyle, Carlow represented their counties at this year's championship launch.
The Camogie Association Season Ticket Cairde Camogie is available to purchase from tickets.ie, GAA outlets, Centra and SuperValu stores. Cairde Camogie costs €40 and allows the purchaser access to all rounds of the Liberty Insurance Camogie Championship including quarter-finals, semi-finals and triple header All Ireland finals in Croke Park on September 13th. County Boards will also receive a 20% rebate on tickets sold.
Admission to all individual Liberty Insurance Senior Championship games are €10/£8 per adult; €5/£4 per student/OAPS and Juveniles (Over 10 years of age and up to U18) €2/£1.
Admission to all Liberty Insurance Intermediate/Premier Junior/Junior A & B are €8/£6; Students/OAPS €5/£4 and Juveniles (Over 10years of age and up to U18) €2/£1.
Further information on the European Week of Sport can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/sport/week.
Saturday June 20th
Liberty Insurance Senior Camogie Championship Group 1
Limerick v Offaly, Newcastle West, Limerick, 2.30pm, Cathal Egan
Galway v Cork, O'Connor Park, Tullamore, 3.00pm, Ray Kelly
Liberty Insurance Senior Camogie Championship Group 2
Dublin v Kilkenny, Parnell Park, 2.30pm, Alan Lagrue
Sunday June 21st
Liberty Insurance Junior A Camogie Championship
Kerry v Clare, Ardfert, Kerry, 2.30pm, Andrew Larkin
See www.camogie.ie for full fixture details
